The present invention relates to mattresses for medical stretchers, and particularly relates to mattresses for medical stretchers used for patients requiring treatment or examination of the pelvic region, such as during labor and delivery or during gynecological examinations. More particularly, the present invention relates to mattresses for medical stretchers convertible between a conventional stretcher configuration that supports the patient in a recumbent position and an Ob/Gyn configuration that supports the patient in a parturition or lithotomy position providing medical caregivers improved access to the patient's pelvic region.
Hospital emergency rooms and maternity units often receive patients that require handling in both a recumbent position and in a parturition or lithotomy position. For example, a maternity patient will typically remain in a recumbent position during labor, with her legs resting on a mattress surface, and then assume a parturition or lithotomy position to facilitate childbirth. During labor there often is also a need for the medical caregiver, such as a nurse or doctor, to have access to the patient's pelvic region, for example to assess cervical dilatation, after which time the patient again assumes a recumbent position. Patients and caregivers thus benefit from medical stretchers that both allows the patient to lie in a conventional, recumbent position and that convert to a configuration to support the patient in a parturition or lithotomy position while simultaneously providing the caregivers with improved access to the patient's pelvic region.
An example of such stretchers is disclosed in detail in the aforementioned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/131,080. Such stretcher may illustratively comprise a base, a frame coupled to the base, and a deck coupled to the frame. The frame includes a storage compartment underneath the deck. The deck includes a head section, a seat section and first and second laterally spaced apart outer leg support sections adjacent the seat section. The seat section and the first and second outer leg support sections are configured to define a central opening therebetween.
The stretcher also includes a removable center leg support section configured for movement between a first use position coupled to the deck and located within the central opening to provide a portion of the deck and a second storage position detached from the deck and located in the storage compartment below the deck.
According to the present invention, a mattress, suitable for use with such stretchers, includes a head portion, a seat portion, and first and second outer leg support portions. The seat portion and the first and second outer leg support portions of the mattress are also configured to define a central opening therebetween. The mattress further comprises a removable center leg support portion configured to be disposed in the mattress central opening to provide a portion of the mattress. The head portion, seat portion, first and second outer leg support portions and removable center leg support portion of the mattress are configured to be located on the respective head section, seat section, first and second outer leg support sections and center leg support section of the deck. The mattress includes a drip flap coupled to a portion of the central opening defined by the seat portion and the first and second outer leg support portions of the mattress. The drip flap is configured to extend downwardly below a bottom surface of the mattress adjacent the mattress central opening. The drip flap reduces the exposure of the deck and the frame adjacent the mattress central opening to fluids when the center leg support section of the deck is in the stowed configuration in the storage compartment below the deck.
In the illustrated embodiment, the first and second outer leg portions of the mattress each include a heel cut-out portion. The illustrated mattress further includes first and second foot straps coupled to the first and second outer leg support portions of the mattress respectively. The illustrated mattress additionally includes at least one fastener coupled to a bottom surface of the mattress to facilitate attachment of the mattress to the deck.
The illustrated mattress also includes at least one bevel cut segment extending between a top surface and a bottom surface of the mattress. The first and second outer leg support portions are formed to include bevel cuts to facilitate access to a control handle when the mattress is positioned on the support deck.
In an illustrated embodiment of the invention, the mattress further includes a relatively rigid element secured to the drip flap to prevent the drip flap from folding upwardly into the space between the seat portion and the center leg support portion of the mattress when the removable center leg support portion is moved from the storage compartment below the deck to the use position within the central opening of the mattress.
In one illustrated embodiment, the drip flap comprises two outer segments coupled to the first and second outer leg support portions of the mattress and an inner segment coupled to the seat portion of the mattress. In this illustrated embodiment, the rigid element is secured to the portions of the inner and outer segments of the drip flap extending below the bottom surface of the mattress. The illustrated drip flap extends further downwardly below the bottom surface of the mattress adjacent the first and second outer leg support portions than adjacent the seat portion of the mattress.
The rigid element illustratively includes a single rigid strip formed to follow the contour of the central opening adjacent the drip flap. The illustrated rigid element is located inside the inner and outer segments of the drip flap and attached thereto.
The illustrated mattress includes first and second flexible portions coupled between the seat portion and the first and second outer leg support portions of the mattress, respectively, to permit relative movement between the first and second outer leg support portions and the seat portion of the mattress. In the illustrated embodiment, the head portion, seat portion, first and second outer leg support portions and removable center leg support portion of the mattress are all illustratively made from a first foam material, and the flexible portions of the mattress are illustratively made from a second foam material. The second foam material has a density less than the first foam material.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, the drip flap includes two outer segments coupled to the first and second outer leg support portions of the mattress, two intermediate bevel segments coupled to the first and second flexible portions of the mattress and an inner segment coupled to the seat portion of the mattress. In this illustrated embodiment, the rigid element is secured to the portions of the inner, intermediate and outer segments of the drip flap extending below the bottom surface of the mattress. Also, in this embodiment, the rigid element, in the form of a single rigid strip configured to follow the contour of the mattress central opening adjacent the drip flap, is located inside the inner, intermediate and outer segments of the drip flap and attached thereto.
Additional features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of the presently perceived best mode of carrying out the invention.